SportsDecember 3, 2024

Cougs knock off Nevada in men's basketball

Sports staff
Idaho defensive back Kyrin Beachem celebrates recovering an Eastern Washington fumble during a Big Sky game Oct. 25 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.
Idaho defensive back Kyrin Beachem celebrates recovering an Eastern Washington fumble during a Big Sky game Oct. 25 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.August Frank/Lewiston Tribune

The eighth-seeded Idaho Vandals will host Lehigh in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs at 6 p.m. Saturday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

The Mountain Hawks (9-3) will make the trip to Moscow following their 20-16 upset win over No. 9 Richmond on Saturday whereas the Vandals will take the field following a first-round bye.

The winner of Idaho-Lehigh will face the winner of No. 1 Montana State-UT Martin. If the Vandals win and UT Martin pulls off the upset, a second playoff game would happen at the Kibbie Dome, but if Idaho and the Big Sky Champion Bobcats win, the Vandals would be Bozeman-bound for the second time this season after losing to Montana State 38-7 on Oct. 12.

“So excited for our third December home game here in the last two years,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “Excited about this opportunity to play a good Lehigh team.”

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Washington State 68, Nevada 57

RENO — Washington State’s Isaiah and LeJuan Watts combined to score 30 points and the Cougars held off Nevada in a nonconference road contest Monday.

Isaiah Watts had 17 points, LeJuan Watts, not related, added 13 and the Cougars (7-2) defeated a Wolf Pack (6-2) team that was undefeated at home going into the game.

The victory was a “Quad 1” win on the first day of the 2024-25 NCAA NET rankings for the Cougs.

Isaiah Watts drilled five 3-pointers in the second half and LeJuan Watts led the team with nine rebounds. Nate Calmese and Ethan Price joined the pair in double figures with 10 points each.

Kobe Sanders led Nevada with 14 points.

The turning point came with the game tied 13-13 with nine minutes left to play in the first half when Washington State pulled away with an 18-8 run to earn a lead it held onto for the rest of the game.

WASHINGTON ST. (7-2)

Erikstrup 1-6 0-0 2, Price 4-14 1-2 10, L.Watts 5-8 2-3 13, Calmese 4-12 0-0 10, I.Watts 6-10 0-0 17, Thrastarson 1-3 0-0 3, Okafor 1-3 1-2 3, Gerrits 1-1 0-0 2, Vavers 2-3 2-2 8. Totals 25-60 6-9 68.

NEVADA (6-2)

T.Coleman 1-4 0-0 2, Davidson 2-8 2-4 6, Love 1-3 0-0 2, DuSell 1-8 0-0 3, Sanders 4-6 5-7 14, Rolison 3-7 0-0 7, Foster 1-2 0-0 2, McBride 5-12 0-0 11, Bailey 3-3 2-2 8, Hymes 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 22-57 9-13 57.

Halftime — Washington St. 31-21. 3-Point Goals — Washington St. 12-29 (I.Watts 5-8, Vavers 2-3, Calmese 2-6, L.Watts 1-1, Thrastarson 1-3, Price 1-4, Erikstrup 0-4), Nevada 4-20 (McBride 1-2, Rolison 1-2, Sanders 1-2, DuSell 1-8, T.Coleman 0-2, Davidson 0-4). Fouled Out_Erikstrup. Rebounds — Washington St. 34 (L.Watts 9), Nevada 29 (Davidson 8). Assists — Washington St. 19 (Calmese 7), Nevada 11 (Sanders 4). Total Fouls — Washington St. 17, Nevada 13. A — 7,748 (11,536).

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

WSU earns NIVC berth

Washington State earned a berth to the National Volleyball Invitational Tournament and will face Utah Valley at 3 p.m. Thursday on the campus of the University of Wyoming, it was announced Sunday.

WSU coach Korey Schroeder kept the Cougars’ nine-year postseason streak alive with a 16-11 record in his first year at the helm and the Cougars’ first in the West Coast Conference following the departure of former coach Jen Greeny to the same position at West Virginia.

WSU replaced the architect of eight straight NCAA tournament teams with Schroeder, an assistant coach on last year’s Round of 16 tournament team.

The Cougars retained five players from last year’s team, including senior Katy Ryan, an all-conference first-team selection, and redshirt freshman Lucie Blažková, an all-conference second-team and freshman team selection.

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“We’re continuing to grow and improve, and so really excited that we can continue to carry that on into postseason,” Schroeder said. “It’s going to be a great experience for our young players. We’ve had three freshmen starting for us all season, and a fourth one playing here and there. And so for them to get some postseason experience is a really big deal. And also our seniors wanted to play in this too.”

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL

Kamiah 72, Grangeville 25

KAMIAH — Lawson Landmark poured in 22 points, Dave Kludt chipped in 20 and the Kubs routed higher-division foe Grangeville to open their hoops season.

The Bulldogs received a team-high eight points from Tate Schumacher.

GRANGEVILLE (0-1)

Carson Astle 1 1-2 3, Tate Schumacher 4 0-2 8, Tate Thacker 1 0-0 3, McCoy Stamper 0 0-0 0, Joe Wood 0 0-0 0, Shawn Chahal 1 0-0 2, Will Told 1 1-1 3, Troy Long 1 1-1 3, Gage Smith 0 0-0 0, Adrian Rodriguez 1 0-0 3. Totals 10 3-6 25.

KAMIAH (1-0)

Todd Roberts 1 0-0 3, Jaden Crowe 7 0-1 15, Jack Engeldow 3 0-0 8, Everett Oatman 2 0-0 4, Dave Kludt 8 2-2 20, Rylan Skinner 0 0-0 0, Lawson Landmark 9 0-2 22, Logan Keen 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 2-5 72.

Grangeville 5 5 10 5—25

Kamiah 14 26 24 8—72

3-point goals — Thacker, Rodriguez, Landmark 4, Engeldow 2, Kludt 2, Roberts, Crowe.

JV — Kamiah 49, Grangeville 18.

Orofino 65, Moscow JV 44

OROFINO — The Maniacs stormed past Moscow JV to open their season with a win.

Orofino was paced by Nick Bonner (14 points), Hudson Schneider (14) and Jake Runia (13).

A full box score was unavailable.

OROFINO (1-0)

Jake Runia 5 0-0 13, Nick Bonner 5 4-7 14, Hudson Schneider 6 0-0 14, Landon Bernett 1 0-0 2, Landon Conley 2 2-2 6, Blake Barlow 3 0-0 7, Aiden Olive 3 0-1 6, Quinton Naranjo 1 0-0 3. Totals 26 6-10 65.

Moscow JV 3 18 11 12—44

Orofino 18 27 9 11—65

3-point goals — Runia 3, Schneider 2, Barlow, Naranjo.

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